Trump says USA under 'no pressure' for China trade deal

Despite his Treasury Secretary's attempts to revive trade talks with China, U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly told his aides to press ahead with a new round of tariffs on an extra 200 billion U.S. dollars in Chinese products.

The comments come amid reports the two sides could resume talks to stave off a third round of USA tariffs.

Bloomberg reports that during an interview with Trump the President was asked to confirm this information.

The new round would be in addition to US$50 billion in Chinese goods that already face a 25 per cent duty.

Forecasters have warned that the worsening conflict between the world's two biggest traders could cut up to 0.5 percentage point off global economic growth through 2020 if all threatened tariff hikes go ahead.

China responded by imposing tariffs on USA products such as beef and soybeans, a response that spooked the US agriculture industry and angered Trump and other White House officials.

The public comment period for a list of tariffs on about US$200 billion in Chinese goods closed earlier this month, and Mr Trump said the duties would be imposed "soon". American officials also worry they might erode USA industrial leadership.

Aurora Cannabis shares rise on reported talks with Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola shares were marginally higher in a US market struggling against expectations of another round of Chinese trade tariffs. The company is the world's largest beverage maker, responsible for 1.9 billion of the 60 billion beverage servings every day.

The White House says tariffs are a response to China's unfair trade policies, which Mr Trump blames for helping to create a huge trade deficit.

"We encourage China to address the long standing concerns raised by the Unites States". And the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang suggested it could backfire.

Some observers say the tariffs will likely cover a wide range of consumer goods, and that possible increases in their prices may severely impact United States consumers.

Trade negotiations last month involving lower level officials from the two countries ended without any breakthroughs.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (left) is expected to meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (right) in talks on September 27 and 28.

Corporate executives increasingly think the trade dispute can be resolved only by direct talks between Trump and Xi. But 2018 imports from China through July were up almost 9 percent over the same period of 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. On the other hand, China chided the USA for indulging in "trade bullying".

About it reports Reuters, citing a senior official in the White house, reports the online edition of the Chronicle.info with reference to the Correspondent.